Gasol brothers reunite in Memphis

MEMPHIS - Studies show that no matter the political incorrectness of it, parents really do favor one child over another. In the Gasol family, who knows? Maybe it's actually baby boy Adria (just beginning his basketball career at age 15 and projected to be even taller than 7-foot Pau or 7-1 Marc).

In Spain, the U.S. and worldwide, Pau is the proven one, with his stature only increasing now that he's Kobe Bryant's second with the glamorous Lakers.

Tonight in FedEx Forum, though, Marc will hear the love.

Marc has won over the locals with a workmanlike yet skillful rookie season — they call him "The Tank" — and he is the Gasol who chose to come to Memphis this season when he could have continued making big bucks overseas.

Late in Pau's Memphis tenure, they called him some other things. Tonight will be his first game back in Memphis since he was traded to the Lakers, and hopefully not all who cheer Marc will feel compelled to jeer Pau.

Pau deserves some thanks for all he did here — with Jerry West's managerial help, there were playoff appearances after 50-, 45- and 49-victory seasons — but bank on Gasol hearing some grief on a night that will be a reminder of all that once was and he wasn't in Memphis.

"If they welcome me well, I'll be appreciative and I'll be excited about it," Gasol said. "If they don't, I'll be a little disappointed."

He'll be disappointed because he knows he tried. And he's the kind of nice guy who cares what people think.

You know Gasol doesn't have the biggest muscles, but he pushed uphill for 61/2 years before the Grizzlies decided he wasn't quite great enough.

It ended with them souring on him for making the very money that they had decided he was worth.

He is what he is: a wonderful willow tree, not an oak.

"We had some good seasons down in Memphis; we didn't have others so good," Gasol said. "We lost a lot of games. And obviously when you lose, there's negativity, there's criticism.

And obviously you're main player is going to get some of that heat and take some of the hits.

"I was understanding of it; it was nothing personal. You've just got to be mature about it and keep working. There's only so much you can do.

"I guess maybe people appreciate my work a little more here because things are going well so far. The moment that things don't go so well, I'm sure they won't be so appreciative. That's why we've got to continue to keep it up."

If the Lakers keep winning but can't win a championship, that won't be good enough either. People always want more, and even now the Lakers might need to remind Gasol that he shouldn't forget his Memphis mindset entirely.

Even though Gasol was coming off strep throat, Phil Jackson said summarily that Gasol should've gotten the ball more throughout this two-game losing streak. Kobe Bryant talked to Gasol after the Lakers' latest loss about not joining Bryant's other teammates in overly deferring to him.

Gasol can't be the go-to guy for a great team, as Memphis learned, but he can and should step into the spaces created by Bryant's demanding presence.

"It's tough for him, because it seems like he's fighting his nature," Bryant said. "He's such a willing facilitator, but at the same time, if the shots are there, he's got to take them and stay aggressive offensively."

Even though he plays low key a lot of times, Gasol does have a dramatic flair. He is well aware of the magnitude of this first game back and will perform well tonight.

For Pau, this is more about returning to Memphis than facing Marc, with whom he speaks by phone nearly every day. Marc is living rent-free in Pau's Memphis loft, sleeping in Pau's oversized bed, and giving the Grizzlies 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 28.8 minutes a game.

Solid work as an NBA rookie, and Pau said Marc played him about even in one-on-one games at summer practices for the Spanish national team.

Bryant even suggested after facing Marc the first time in the Olympics that the Lakers should have held out and gotten Pau without giving up Marc, 41/2 years younger.

However, Jackson put the Lakers' value of Marc in proper context.

About Marc's potential, Jackson said: "It wasn't a consideration. That was not a pivotal matter as far as what we wanted to get done last year."

The Lakers favored the eldest Gasol for the myriad of reasons that Memphis forgets. He can pass and score, he is a committed team defender and he understands every angle of the game. He can do everything except bench-press a franchise.

And no matter what Memphis fans say tonight, the willow tree is winning, not weeping, now.

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